Rapes happen all over India: Shinde tells House

Security personnel try to remove protestors of AAM Party shouting slogans outside Prime Minister's residence during a protest against the rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi. HT/Vipin Kumar

Amidst strong protests over the rape and brutality meted out to a five-year-old girl in New Delhi, government on Monday said an inquiry has been ordered into the lapses on part of the police to investigate her disappearance and an attempt to hush up the matter.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde gave details of the incident in Gandhi Nagar area of East Delhi on April 15 and the investigations conducted so far.

"The Joint CP (Vigilance) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The Jt CP (Vigilance) shall also enquire into the allegation that the local police paid some money to the father of the victim to hush up the case," Shinde said in the statement which was laid in the House.

A BJP supporter displays a placard during a protest against the rape of a minor girl outside Parliament. PTI

He said that such incidents (rape) happen elsewhere in the country too, while trying to defuse the prevailing tension in the country.

Shinde said two accused have been arrested in connection with the case.

Pradeep, the second suspect, was apprehended from Bihar in a joint operation by Delhi and Bihar Police, Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.

BJP women activists during a protest against the rape of a minor girl near Parliament House. PTI

Medical examination of the first accused, arrested from Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on April 19, has been conducted for DNA, he said.

The main accused, Manoj Kumar was sent to judicial custody on Sunday till May 4 following his two-day interrogation by Delhi police.

The five-year-old girl was raped on April 15 in a building in east Delhi's Gandhinagar locality where the victim and accused Manoj lived and she was rescued 40 hours later on April 17.

Speaking against the backdrop of major uproar and street protests, Shinde told the House that the five-year-old girl was reported missing on April 15 and an FIR was registered at 10pm.

"The police started searching and conducting raids in the East Delhi area," the home minister said.

In the early hours of April 17, 2013, the mother of the girl heard weeping sound of the child from the ground floor of the same house where her parents lived on the first floor, Shinde said.

The ground floor was found locked from outside and the police, whe informed, broke open the door and recovered the child, he said.

The girl was rushed to Swami Dayanand Hospital, which is the nearest, and preliminary medico-legal case confirmed "sexual assault of brutal kind", Shinde said.

Her condition was reported to be stable after an operation conducted on April 18. She was later shifted to AIIMS on April 19 for better treatment and presently her condition is reported to be stable, he said.

In the meantime, on April 19, some protesters were holding demonstration at the Dayanand Hospital where the minister concerned of Delhi government was visiting to enquire about the health of the child along with the local MP, Shinde said.

Some protesters tried to break through the police cordon around the hospital in order to enter the premises, he said.

An assistant commissioner of police (ACP) was seen on camera slapping one of the lady protesters, the home minister said, adding the officer BS Ahlawat has been placed under suspension with immediate effect.